Australian flag carrier Qantas put 1,000 fully stocked bar carts up for sale this week and people were so keen to own a classic piece of airline memorabilia that the whole lot sold out in less than two hours. The carts, which were jammed full of wine, champagne and even Tim Tams, came from Qantas’ now-retired fleet of Boeing 747’s which were retired back in July.
Selling for A$974 the pre-used carts that show “signs of wear and tear” didn’t come cheap but still didn’t take long to be snapped up. The retired carts would normally be scrapped and the wine and other goodies were surplus stock meant for use on long-haul international flights that have otherwise been grounded because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These pre-loved carts served Qantas and our customers well during their world travels from London and Los Angeles to Singapore and Santiago, with each one averaging around 2,000 flights,” commented Qantas executive manager of product and service, Phil Capps.
“While we no longer have use for them, they still have life in them, especially for those with an appreciation for aviation collectables and an eye for design,” Capps continued.
The “pre-loved” bar carts came complete with:
- 40 mini bottles of white wine and 40 mini bottles of red wine
- 1 bottle of Champagne from the Business class cellar
- 2 Qantas Business Class amenity kits
- 1 Sheridan First Class throw
- 2 Qantas Business Class sleeper suits
Also included were Tim Tam biscuits, a large pack of First Class almonds, and a sleeve of savoury biscuits.
This unusual offer from Qantas is the latest money-making idea from the airline while ticket sales remain severely disrupted. In August, Qantas sold a ‘care pack’ containing Business Class pyjamas, Tim Tam biscuits and tea bags for just A$25. The sale was designed to empty the Qantas warehouse of surplus stock and came just after Melbourne was put under lockdown.
Qantas has also sold a sightseeing ‘flight to nowhere’ which proved so popular all the available tickets were snapped up in just 10-minutes. Operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, ticket prices ranged from A$3,787 in Business Class to just A$787 in Economy.
Set to depart Sydney on October 10, the seven-hour scenic flight will include low-level flybys across Queensland, the Northern Territory and New South Wales including the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Byron Bay and Sydney Harbour before landing right back where it started.
